Did you have a business plan when you established your business? How did you go about starting your business?

No, not to be an artist or gallerist. I simply found a space to work and began working, talking with people, planning events, and generating press.

I did have a 20-year plan of goals I wanted to achieve, divided into four 5-year plans. I have fulfilled these goals thus far, but have not mapped out how I would get there, allowing it to happen organically.

Do you think a business plan is necessary when starting a business in your industry? What made you successful (unique)?

No. I think business can echo the military saying “no plan survives contact with enemy.” If I am successful at all it is because of a willingness to adapt while maintaining a relatively prolific output or high work ethic, as well as a tendency to expand into several tangential fields such as writing, curating, and collaboration which aid in reputational dispersal.

Please, offer three pieces of advice on how to become a successful arts entrepreneur? 

1) Don’t go into the arts.

2) Love the process, not the product.

3) Realize when you are successful and be grateful.

Interview by Chieh-Ya Hsu, studying Developing an Arts Venture Plan, Arts Entrepreneurship at Meadows School of the Arts, SMU.